r type 3 vs. thunderforce 4

PooshhMao · Post by **PooshhMao** » Wed Apr 19, 2006 7:06 am

Interesting comparison indeed - I'm guessing the R-Type series is considered to be generally superior by the majority, and although R-Type III was fab by any means, I wasn't all that impressed by the stock Mode 7 effects (come on, how much zooming and rotating do you need to stop being impressed), and I felt the look was a bit too colourful, lacked that lovely gritty Irem design.

The sound is generally well composed, but suffered from a lack of ROM space - there's a single chorused electric guitar sample in there which is very overused (it's featured in every track, and many sound effects are the sample sample played back at different pitches - the beam charge sound is very obvious)

And the game is so hard it's not funny - there's little room to deviate from the best path, if you do, you die. Especially in the later levels (the last one - surely very satisfying if you make it through, but do you want to play it over and over again, to enjoy yourself? Not me) Makes for a linear experience.

Apart from these nitpicks, it's a lovely, worthy R-Type game - and surely one of the SNES's top 5 shmups.

ST Dragon · Post by **ST Dragon** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 2:38 am

TF4 is more fun than R-Type 3.

I wouldn’t say Thunder Force IV is the best Horizontal shooter on the Geny.
Eliminate Down, Gaiares, Gynoug & TFIII are all comparable if not better in the graphics, audio & gameplay department.

But I have to totally disagree about R-Type III.
Axelay is immensely superior to RIII in every single field, especially in the gameplay department, considering how frustrating RIII is.
Even Macross betters it imo.

PooshhMao · Post by **PooshhMao** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 6:50 am

Axelay needs a second loop with every weapon available from the start

Better yet -- a sequel!

animefanjr · Post by **animefanjr** » Fri Apr 21, 2006 11:52 am

PooshhMao wrote:Axelay needs a second loop with every weapon available from the start
Better yet -- a sequel!

I would sooooooo love that, its one of my favorate games of all time. Topped only by TF3, my personal fav

I been waiting for Axelay 2 ever since the ending of Axalay.

Keranu · Post by **Keranu** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 9:15 am

R-Type 3 kicks Axelay's ass any day

.

captain ahar · Post by **captain ahar** » Sat Apr 22, 2006 5:09 pm

Keranu wrote:R-Type 3 kicks Axelay's ass any day .

quoted for real.

Keranu · Post by **Keranu** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 9:14 am

I only tell the truth

.

infamous lunchbox · Post by **infamous lunchbox** » Sun Apr 23, 2006 10:41 pm

I gotta go with Keranu on this. Although, to be honest I didn't enjoy R Type III or Axelay as much as most Genny shooters back in the day. However Thunder Force IV is brilliant. I like it a lot, as has been said not the best shooter on the system, but a good one. I would take TFIV over RT3 any day of the week. Of course I am not the biggest R Type fan in the world.

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 2:06 pm

FRO wrote:I would put TF4 on top because I think it pushes the Genesis/Megadrive to its limits

To its limits, and beyond... Seriously, I can't enjoy this game at all because of the huge amount of slowdown going on. The graphics are wonderful, the music is spectacular, but the game itself is unplayable.

raiden · Post by **raiden** » Mon Apr 24, 2006 7:36 pm

To its limits, and beyond... Seriously, I can't enjoy this game at all because of the huge amount of slowdown going on.

in that case, you should be getting Thunder Force GP2 for Saturn. It has a TF4 version without any slowdown.

dai jou bu · Post by **dai jou bu** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 12:10 am

PooshhMao wrote: R-Type III had synthesized rock music, was too colorful, and the mode 7 effects were corny.

Like I said before, the 4th stage endboss used mode 7 for one of the most interesting fights I've ever seen in a shmup. There wasn't that much mode 7 used after the first stage anyway.

You're given a very powerful ship in R-Type III, one where its wave beam literally goes right through walls and damages any enemies from behind it while absorbing standard enemy bullets in its path. The other version has you rapid-fire smaller bursts of your standard wave cannon while any bits that you have form a bullet-absorbing shield, but the tradeoff of not being able to use any beam attacks or using your force weapons until you wait for your ship to cool down. Not only that, you're also given the choice of how you want to obliterate your enemy by selecting your force type this time around.

I wouldn't be afraid of the Bydo at all with this kind of firepower. Irem wanted you to feel that you know enough of the Bydo Empire to be confident enough this time around that you're going to wipe them out. The game reflects that: the attract mode feels refined. The stages are bright, colorful, and relatively large on purpose since you know what the Bydo should look like already (or it could be all of that advanced sensor techology on your ship). You should also be familiar with how R-Type plays by now (you DID play the first two R-Types before this, right?), so what better way to prove how confident you are than with electric guitars replacing the original melody of R-Type's first stage and a really awesome intro launch, not to mention guitars revving up whenever you charge your beam?

That is my explanation for the change of style in R-Type III, and I'm sticking with it.

When I'm playing R-Type Delta, I don't have that confidence anymore. My ship is a lot bigger. I can crash into a lot more things easily. I want my two different beam attack types instead of one. I don't feel as powerful as I did in R-Type III. The sound settings for the game are really wierd because I have to set the volume up at least 20% higher than any other game on my Playstation in order to hear anything. The slowdown that plagued Super R-Type is back again. There really isn't much of an improvement between this game and the previous one, save for the unecessary Delta Attack, which is already pretty uncreative as it is (way to go Irem for including a room-clearing bomb attack).

zinger · Post by **zinger** » Tue Apr 25, 2006 9:01 am

raiden wrote:
To its limits, and beyond... Seriously, I can't enjoy this game at all because of the huge amount of slowdown going on.
in that case, you should be getting Thunder Force GP2 for Saturn. It has a TF4 version without any slowdown.

I thought it had sound emulation issues? Maybe that was GP1...